In a word probably the best conditions ever to ride the Camperdown to Warrnambool with the temperature at 18c and with little or no wind. With bunch times tight the out markers could not have asked for better conditions in there hope to stop the rampaging back markers winning the VVCC’s feature race of the year.
Limit : Jenny Dounden and Mal Cole; set of 37 mins ahead of scratch and that’s how it stayed all day with Jenny and Mal off loading their co markers with 10km to go as the pair uped the ante. The pair then rode out of their skins to keep ahead of the mid markers who were bearing down on the pair. Jenny made a daring break at the Fletcher Jones hill and rode away from Mal, but Mal who had his brother riding on his shoulders lifted him home to just pip Jenny on the line by 7 seconds.
Mal – Big thanks to Bubby for his coaching, encouragement and the post race hydration, this allowed me to mount the podium and accept the trophy,sash etc. Thanks to all the GSCC riders who congratulated myself and Jenny, I am totally humbled by it all. The ride in the winners vehicle with Peter Hunt, Bubby, Jenny and myself back to Camperdown was just a treat.
21 min: Brad Keating, James Stuart (dns); Another Camperdown to Warny done. Not quite the result I wanted but considering the training I have done or haven’t done I went well. Finished reasonable. Now to maccas for a cheeseburger and large coke. 
😂
😃
👍
🚴 Love to ride
17 min: Paul Beasley, Vic Mason, Paul Ogilvie, Johnny Parrello, Darren Williams, Peter Wynne (first for bunch); the bunch took a few kilometres to establish a good rhythm, but once it got going the bunch continued to work very well. Pace was great until the hills between 35 and 40 ks into the race, where the more tired riders began to suffer and we were caught by the combined 2 bunches behind. Pace picked up, but the group was disorganised and the “tactics” started before the leaders were caught. The result was that the group leaders were 30 seconds short of major placings. It was a great and solid ride by a bunch of wide ranging experience.
15 min: Gary Blick, Chris Fenech (first for bunch), Peter Hunt, David Lambourn; no comments yet
13 min: Mandy Hosking, Nigel Pearson (first for bunch); After a ragged start up the first climb, the bunch settled down to doing turns. The turns were mainly even, with everyone contributing. This continued for 25 km or so and with the group ahead mostly within sight it felt like progress was being made. Around 30 km the 11 min bunch made the catch and the combined bunches joined forces and spent the next 25 km reeling in the groups ahead up to second limit. The ‘super’ bunch worked reasonably well with over half the riders doing regular turns, but with the limit riders still out front progress seemed to have stalled. With 10 km to go pressure was applied from the front and three riders stretched ahead. However, they were reeled in pretty quickly and the pace settled for the next couple of ks. Pressure was reapplied from the front with two riders sharing the lion’s share of work the pace quickened. By the rise up to Raglan Parade the bunch caught two of the limit riders, but two more were still just out of reach. The climb was taken steadily with everyone holding something back for the inevitable sprint. Once crested, the jostling begun and the sprint was on! Fortunately everyone stayed upright with 11 & 13 min bunches fighting it out for third downwards.
11 min: Kelvin Dyson first for bunch??, Nick Oakley (first for bunch), Paul Rettke; The bunch got organised after the first hill and settled down to their work. The pace was remarkably smooth for an open bunch, with no passengers and the speedo consistently in the 40-45 kph range. The 13 minute group were slowly reeled in and picked up at about the 30 k mark, then the combined firepower helped to pull in the next few bunches over the next 20 k. After that it got a bit messy with everyone fighting for position and disrupting the flow of the group, and a few saving a bit for the inevitable sprint. The time checks showed that limit was coming back fast, lights were on the horizon but 2 stayed away. The sprint was a but bumpy with a few touches but everyone stayed upright, with most of the places filled by the 11 and 13 minute groups. Nick
8 min: Nick Brown, Tony French; Our race started with a few passengers not keen to push themselves before the hill out of Camperdown. Once over the top of the first rise everyone was willing to roll through for regular short turns. The bunch then rolled along at what felt like a slowish steady pace. The catch from the 6:00 minute bunch came quite early but not unexpected at about 25 km into the race. This catch saw our pace pick up and most of the 8:00 minute bunch once again happy to sit on the back, but most looking reasonably comfortable. The odd rider here and there were either passed or picked up along the way, some hanging on and others happy to just keep going at their own pace. The call from a marshal at 13 km to go that we were still 8:00 minutes behind the leaders led to a few dejected looks and comments and what was now a reasonably large group becoming even more disorganised. A bit of confusion with traffic lights before the final climb and thankfully a safe sprint to the finish line.
6 min: Josh Williams (dns), Rick Buckwell; the best group i have ridden with in this race with no passengers/incidents, we caught the 8 min group around the 30 km mark and all worked well as a combined group to the finish, averaging around 41 k/ph but still finished some 4 mins behind the winners but manged to stay away from 2 bunches behind us.
3:30 min: Andrew Goodwin
Scratch: Tim Bennett, Greg Hosking, Matt McDonugh, David Newett, Nic Squallari;powered the scratch bunch of eight and started well pushing hard up the first incline before settling into a solid pace. Despite all working well and a first half average near 44 kph there was no sign of riders ahead! The solo ride continued until turning onto the highway with 10k to go where second scratch were finally reeled in. Soon after the unspoken acknowledgement of “we can’t win” swept through the bunch and with time honours beckoning a few known sprinters applied pressure to the brake pads. A red light at the foot of the last hill tempered a few eager escapees and led to the inevitable sprint and Darren Roberts taking his fourth consecutive fastest time. Geelong’s Tim Bennett and Nick Squillari were close behind then followed Dave Newett, Matt McDonough and Greg Hosking.